As a result of having received no more than 5 Christmas cards to date, I was beginning to feel a tad uncharitable towards my friends, family and even you, my flist...until this morning when I found out there's been a postal strike going on in The Netherlands for the last two weeks. I know, I should be ashamed that because I've been so wrapped up in my own miserable existence lately, I hadn't even noticed. It seems the postal workers are protesting against proposed mass lay-offs, which is understandable and maybe even laudable, but...it does mean no Christmas cards will be delivered this year until after the holiday has been and gone :(. Luckily, I sent (most of) mine out ridiculously early, which means you shouldn't be affected by this disruption to normal services. Well, not unless your postal workers are on strike, too.

LinkedIn continues to allow me to get back in touch with people from my past, and last night I met up for coffee and a chat with two of my former classmates, Charles and Ludovic. It never ceases to amaze me how easy it is to reconnect to people one hasn't seen for 28 years, or how little they've changed in the intervening years. Sure, their hair may have turned grey, or they might turn up wearing glasses when they used to have 20-20 vision when you knew them last, but their manner and persona is instantly recognisable and if you got on well before, you'll get on just as well or even better now, when the vehemence of youth has been tempered by the more considered opinions of old age ;-).